Whoever will eventually shake the earth with sound will be silent for a long time; whoever will eventually ignite lightning will drift like a cloud for a long time.
- Nietzsche's Collected Poems of Nietzsche
Nothing is immortal, including art itself. The only thing that is immortal is the understanding of man and the world that art conveys.
- Van Gogh
Literature and art should be passed on to others, not by literature and art.
——Master Hongyi, "Pan Tianshou on Painting"
Figure 1 Self-portrait of a friend 28cm×18cm  1973
In the process of focusing on the interweaving of fashion and fun, the British art historian Haskell found some interesting phenomena: some artists who were previously ignored or obscured suddenly began to be admired by everyone at some time now, or the painters who were famous in the past are gradually forgotten today. Looking back at the history of Chinese art, such a phenomenon is not uncommon, and the ups and downs of Huang Binhong's reputation in landscapes and rivers are typical examples of modern times. For a long time, Mr. Zhang Peng of Qingdao was also a neglected flower and bird painter. With the promotion of some famous artists in the 1970s and the holding of a series of exhibitions in Beijing, Jinan and other places, Mr. Zhang Peng became famous. However, I believe that the current understanding and research on Mr. Zhang Peng's artistic contributions are still far from reaching the height they should be, especially in the identification, collection, chronology, and artistic ideas of Mr. Zhang Peng's works. This article attempts to make a brief analysis of Mr. Zhang Peng's artistic achievements from the aspects of the background of the times, artistic characteristics and spiritual character.
Figure 2 Friends love   71cm×37cm  1976
<h4>First, a lifetime of thoughts in flowers and birds</h4>
Of the limited photographs of Mr. Zhang Peng that I can see, two of them impressed me. A photograph taken indoors, about the time of his later years, wearing a threaded hat, his gaze is slightly stagnant, the lines formed by the slightly loose skin on the eye bags and cheekbones make the eyes more eye-catching, and the back of the gaze seems to hide countless thoughts and words, and they want to stop talking. The vicissitudes of time all stay briefly at that moment, not cynical, but full of calm, like the surface of the still water, only the slightly closed, upturned lips tell the viewer that a person alone flaunts the stubbornness of life force, sneering at all the vulgarity of the world. He once had an inscription poem " Lone Crane Graceful and Quiet, CangSong Bone Like a Dragon ", just like the white crane in the painting, even if the head is deeply lowered, it still maintains a calm posture. This may be a kind of stubbornness of the gentleman. The other one seems to be an autumn afternoon, like a snap in front of an old house. The gentleman was smiling, his eyes were peaceful, his slightly open mouth was crawling with white whiskers, and a pulse of warmth sprinkled on his face with clear sunlight. I think these two photos represent mr. Zhang Peng's two different states of life, the ancients said that "painting is born of the heart", in fact, we can also experience the refraction of these two moods in his paintings.
Which one is closer to the real painter? I prefer to believe that the self-portrait he called the drama pen (Figure 1) is closer. The painting was created in 1973, in which the gentleman holds a pen in his right hand, tilts his head slightly, and the paper is sprinkled with pen and ink of several arbitrary things. This self-portrait conveys a slightly similar look to the first photo, except that a few deep wrinkles are added to the forehead, and a poem is written crookedly on the back of the picture: "How many upset things, grinding in ink." "In a way, the artist's self-portrait tends to express the truest emotions in his heart. Mr. Zhang Peng experienced many vicissitudes and experienced several major changes in society, and at the age of 19 (1) he became an art teacher in primary schools, until he became known to the outside world in 1978, and was transferred to Qingdao Textile Institute of Technology as a professor. He painted without a teacher, had few acquaintances before he became famous, was poor all his life, and retreated in stealth after he became famous in his later years, and there was loneliness and hardship in him that others could not understand. The brush is his inner monologue, and he pours his whole life's joys and sorrows into the flowers and trees, fish and insects of the picture. Wang Yu of the Qing Dynasty said in "On Painting in Dongzhuang": "Studying painting can cultivate temperament, and it can also purify troubles, break loneliness, relieve irritability, and calm the breath." [1] Mr. Zhang Peng's ability to be spoiled in various environments and calmly face everything in life can also be said to be related to the enlightenment and understanding he has gained in painting. In other words, what we can see in Mr. Zhang Peng's works is personality, and we can see an artist's expression of calmness and self-disposition in the face of the cold and warmth of the world.
Figure 3 Peng SanXian Figure &nbsp; Size unknown&nbsp; 1983
Mr. Zhang Peng is one of the long-lived painters among the so-called "Four Masters of the Wild School". In large part, this is due to his optimistic, humble mentality. It is not difficult to understand that when he gained social reputation in his later years, he refused the treatment that many others envied. I think this way of dealing with it is the unique social psychology of that era, and it is also a kind of thinking of self-preservation, and it is also a kind of wisdom in dealing with the world. "Food and water are sparse, and the humerus is bent and pillowed, and the pleasure is also in it." Unrighteous and rich and expensive, to me is like a floating cloud. "He pursues the Confucian idea of contentment and happiness. Therefore, in his later years, he may only seek a peaceful life, and only regard fame and fortune so lightly, just like his simple and refreshing picture. In the face of a complicated life, he also chooses a big choice, which is a kind of superhuman wisdom.
From the above brief sketch, we can roughly see such an image: in Zhang Peng's time, he was neither an untamed, wandering skeleton of the bamboo forest Seven Sages of anger, nor a spirited, full of cutting-edge ideas to study abroad travelers. He was just a sensitive artist who taught, painted, and lived the most ordinary life. He measured life and the world with his eyes and heart, but we found that the more ordinary it is, the more touching and profound it is. The hardships of life are more revealing of the character of a gentleman. Even if "the north of the dou room is dark and dark, and the books are difficult to open on a few small pieces of paper", Mr. Li still has a calm attitude of "widowhood and purity of heart, sweetness and bitterness and endless happiness", and still has the pride of "extreme frost and sky high". (2) As Matisse said, "You want to paint? Then cut off your tongue first, because from now on you can only express it with a pen. "Mr. Zhang Peng is to express his inner arrogance, blandness, hardship and happiness in his paintings. Therefore, if you want to truly understand Mr. Zhang Peng today, you must also look for answers in his paintings.
Figure 4 Friends Harvest Chart &nbsp; Size unknown&nbsp; 1973
<h4>Second, it is rare to have both merit and ability</h4>
"Talented and non-reactive pen ink pine, meritorious and non-talented ruts are similar." Rare talents and talents, modern times are happy to see Shiraishi Ong. This is a poem by Mr. Zhang Peng praising Qi Baishi, and I think it is also very appropriate to use it on him. Mr. Zhang Peng is obsessed with the old man of Baishi, but he can jump out of the master's trap, which is inseparable from his ability. Du Dakai once commented: "In the words of flowers, the white stone is the first person in the world, and the one who dares to speak out in a hundred years is unparalleled." Therefore, learning white stones is like entering a road without a road, and the steps are dangerous. And Zhang Peng finally had to be desperate, turning the thick into light, with ingenuity, shape, color, line, moist and astringent, and smooth, and the white stone potential or not, but qingjun has it. The people who do the white stone under the heavens are many, and those who are similar to each other and those who are not similar to the gods, Zhang Peng is one person. ” [2]
Compared with Qi Baishi, Mr. Zhang Peng uses his pen more rapidly and changes relatively little, giving people a taste of carelessness and simplicity. He likes to use straight brushstrokes to build the picture structure, and then with full, fresh thick ink or light ink to harmonize the rhythm, and finally apply a little pastel at the eye of the painting, in the process of crisscrossing the pen and ink, there are often a lot of accidental infiltration effects, so that the object has a certain image interest. Mr. Zhang Peng's pen and ink skills are inseparable from years of practice, and it is also not unrelated to his comprehensive artistic accomplishment. Qingdao is a city with a strong watercolor atmosphere, and Mr. Li has the experience of learning watercolor in his early years, which must have had an important impact on his use of water and ink. His calligraphy began to learn the willow body, and later learned Zhao, Mi, "Zhang Qianbei" and even "Chunhua Ge Ti" cursive, and thanks to the gold stone seal carving, the knot body opening and closing exaggerated, natural and interesting, and finally formed a combination of line kai and seal, simple and humble and ancient appearance, with the white stone old man "painting" style. It is precisely this unique understanding of the use of pen and ink that makes his paintings achieve what Shi Tao said: "Use emotion in pen and ink, and let go of pen and ink.".
Figure 5 Zhang PengJiangshan TirelessLy Climbing into the Eye &nbsp; Size unknown&nbsp; 1977
Mr. Zhang Peng's talent is a kind of wisdom, which makes his paintings have a unique temperament everywhere. If Qi Baishi integrates folk elements into painting and gets rid of the traditional literati painting Yangchun White Snow and forms a style of elegant and popular appreciation, then Mr. Zhang Peng has pulled Qi Baishi's picture back to traditional literati painting. Specifically, the joy of hearing and seeing is more revealed as an outpouring of the character of the literati. Compared with Qi Baishi's paintings, although his paintings lack the broad and profound and ever-changing things of the old man of Baishi, in some subjects, Mr. Zhang Peng has made greater expansion, and even surpassed the old man of Baishi in the artistic expression of a single subject. His paintings can be summarized with the following distinctive features.
First, there is the expansion of the brushwork. Mr. Zhang Peng is good at using scattered edges, like the brush marks drawn with brushes, with a large amount of flying white, and the starting and closing points have a hairy feeling. This kind of brushwork is a slightly weak brushwork that is not very advocated in flower and bird painting. However, Mr. Zhang Peng uses this brushwork to express the texture of animal fur, and the combination of lightness and slackness of the brush and the thick Huazi presented by the thick pen center complement each other. In his works with monkeys, owls, etc., we often see the use of this brushwork.
Figure 6 Zhang Pengshui Qing Sanwu Duck &nbsp; Size unknown&nbsp; 1985
Secondly, it is good at breaking ink and making full use of the ink separation effect formed by the overlap of different ink colors. This technique, often used in modern ink painting, has long been used by Mr. Wang. However, unlike the showman, Mr. Zhang Peng cleverly uses this ink effect to not only express the texture of the object, but also form a unique pen and ink interest. For example, in his work "The Love of Licking Calves" (Figure 2), he uses the separation effect of different levels of ink to express the feeling of pattern on the sika deer very well. In the painting "Three Fresh Pictures" (Figure 3), he uses the separation effect to show the fish scales, the fish belly is white, and the whole painting is full of ink, but it makes people feel radiant, and there is really an effect of "ink divided into five colors". In addition, he also likes to use this technique to express the effects of cascading distant mountains. These ink textures have both a strong sense of modernity and can express the delicate emotions of the painter.
Third, as we all know, Qi Baishi's large-scale freehand flowers and birds have greatly expanded their themes compared with ancient times, from daily flowers to labor farm tools, from daily necessities to study utensils, which can be said to be all-encompassing. Similarly, Mr. Zhang Peng inherited the habit of the old man of Shiraishi to observe life and nature, and explored some subjects that were not paid attention to or were insufficiently expressed in traditional paintings. For example, in 1973, "Harvest Map" (Figure 4) is his sketch in Laoshan Mountain, with trees of ducks and yellow pears dotted among the lush leaves. These subjects rarely appear in the works of predecessors. However, Mr. Zhang Peng, whether he is sketching or copying, has a strong ability to transform. I think this is due to the individual's talent for painting. As Dong Xuanzai said: "Qi rhyme is vivid and unlearnable, it is known in this life." In particular, Mr. Zhang Peng's development of the theme of monkeys can occupy a place in the entire history of Chinese flower and bird painting art. His monkeys are completely free from the old routine, with different moods and full of personalities: or sitting alone on the top of the mountain and looking up at the distance; or playing in the pine and being free; or holding a huge peach, looking in horror and contemplation. A large amount of light ink outlines the dynamics of the limbs, thick ink dots the fingers and toes, and the loose edges outline the hair on the chest, and then dye it with rouge or ochre to highlight the eyes. His monkey is not only a far-sighted hero who "tirelessly climbs the eyes of the country and the earth" (Figure 5), but also a mercenary villain who is "fruit-hungry and greedy, climbing and clinging". The painter uses this carrier to express the cognition of society, and also expresses the feelings and mind of the painter.
Figure 7 Peng Da Shou Figure &nbsp; 68cm×36cm&nbsp; 1977
Finally, zhang Peng's comprehensive artistic accomplishment. His paintings are not conventional in both composition and artistic conception. Mr. Zhang Peng devoted his life to flower and bird painting, but his relatively small number of landscape and figure paintings are wonderful, and some even exceed ordinary flower and bird paintings in conception and pen and ink expression. In the landscape painting "Three Five Ducks of Water Qing" (Fig. 6), the painter uses a few strokes to sketch a pastoral scene, three hills, five small trees, three ducks and a water collector. This may be a scene that everyone can see in that era, except for a few ink clusters and dots of large area and different directions, the others are left blank, and the strong silhouette effect and composition consciousness convey a strong poetic feeling. The creation of this atmosphere will be reminiscent of the artistic conception of the old man Shiraishi's "Ten Miles of Frogs Out of the Mountain Spring", and we can't help but marvel at Mr. Zhang Peng's acumen and wisdom, without skilled pen and ink skills and extraordinary talent and talent, there would never be such a wonderful creation. Mr. Li once painted "Da Shou Tu" (Figure 7), in which a crane, a stone, and a ganoderma lucidum are painted, and the stones go from thick to light to white, occupying almost half of the space. Crane curved neck lead, whole
The head is buried in stone. Like dharma facing the wall, the whole picture gives people a sense of oppression. But in this atmosphere, the crane's eyes appear more determined and deep. The painter's treatment can be described as ingenious and creative, and this non-great talent cannot get this good idea.
Each of Mr. Zhang Peng's paintings is a dismal operation, so there are very few repetitive and sloppy works. Similar to the landscape master Fu Baoshi, although the number of works is small, it is readable. He once wrote his own poem: "Twelve years of life to stay danqing, six or five decline weng too thin." Ink three thousand children eternal treasure, a lifetime of painstaking pen love. It can be seen that Mr. Liu attaches great importance to his own works, and regards these paintings that are full of emotion as a life's work.
<h4>Third, keep your voice high</h4>
The modern painter Chen Shi once said in "The Value of Literati Painting": "The artist who is precious is to write about the spirit of sex in the pottery, and express his personality and his feelings." And the literati have a beautiful personality, and those who feel noble are also impressed, and the character they cultivate in their daily lives is very much above the mediocre. Therefore, in art, the lyricist who publishes it can be fascinating, leisurely and distant thoughts, and free from all dusty thoughts. [3] The literati character he emphasized is the most important thing for the literati, starting from Tao Yuanming's expression of "leaning on the south window to be proud", the literati inkers who can enter the core of culture are all people in the caves who are indifferent to fame and fortune and high standards in spiritual expression, because the essence of literati painting lies in the art of carrying the Tao. The significance of the big writing created by Xu Wei and bada shanren is to fully express people's personality and thoughts. Therefore, when we appreciate their art, we can also say that we have a dialogue with a noble soul.
In the face of the contradictions in life, Mr. Zhang Peng chose to be indisputable, and the inner arrogance was vented through works of art. Most of the eagles and cranes he painted are leading the neck to the sky, which allows us to think of the image of Liang Kai's "Taibai Xingyin", free and free, high and widowed, unwilling to be vulgar, Li Bai's transformation of inner arrogance into poetry is a kind of arrogance of giving up oneself and others. In Mr. Zhang Peng's heart, there is also such an uninhibited atmosphere. "Rising from the sky, speaking tall and far away" is an inscription poem of Mr. Li, who has created this inscription many times, which shows his love for this sentence. Mr. Zhang Peng preaches a positive and upward realm of life through the giant trees and the cicadas that are high in the clouds.
Choosing seclusion is often the final destination of the Chinese literati's hearts, or the more they go to the depths of culture, the more they will have a feeling of self-congratulation, until they become an empty valley orchid and a red plum in the snow. As The Void Valley wrote on the yantai of his favorite side: "I hope to accompany this stone for the rest of my life, and I am worried about the old wind and dust of the twilight." The vastness is a lack of acquaintances, self-appreciation and self-portraiture. "The hardships of life do not wear away the character of a gentleman. In a sense, Mr. Zhang Peng is like a lonely flower blooming in the island city, and his spiritual character has always inspired those who come after him. Mr. Zhang Peng's greatest contribution is to practice the spiritual ideal of a literati, willing to be lonely, indifferent to fame and fortune, loyal to the heart, and his painting is the fruit of this conscious thought, and his admiration of spiritual character is not only the core content emphasized by traditional Chinese culture, but also the value embodiment of what Master Hongyi said: "Painting is passed on to people, not to people to paint".
<h4>epilogue</h4>
Mr. Zhang Peng is one of the most artistic artists who inherited the tradition and had some original ideas in the second half of the 20th century. Throughout his life, he was indifferent to fame and fortune and devoted himself to the study of calligraphy and painting. In his later years, he gained a great reputation for the paintings and calligraphy of the island city, and it has not faded to this day. His painting ideas influenced a large number of island painters, such as Sui Yifu and Sun Zengdi. He is well-cultivated and accomplished in landscapes, characters and other subjects. His flower and bird paintings inherit the literati painting tradition since Shen Zhou and bada Shanren, closely studied with Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi, and absorbed some of the essence of the Lingnan School, advocating that jinshi be included in the painting, and the painting was simple and far-reaching, especially the large freehand style formed by Qi baishi had both inheritance and expansion. To some extent, he is a collector of contemporary northern freehand flowers and birds. Compared with the flower and bird painters of the same period, his paintings are vivid and vivid, and there is no lack of personal appearance, and the poetry, calligraphy and painting are organically melted into a furnace. Several contemporary painters Li Keyan, Li Kuchan, Wu Zuoren, etc. all have high praise for it, and the famous critic Mr. Chen Chuanxi has called Zhang Peng, Chen Zizhuang, Huang Qiuyuan, and Tao Bowu the "four masters of the opposition school". However, I think that due to the environment of the times, these evaluations cannot fully summarize Mr. Zhang Peng's artistic achievements. With the passage of time, we will find that there are many artistic phenomena in Mr. Zhang Peng that deserve our rethinking and research. For example, his learning model, how did he translate tradition and sketching into a personal style? He was neither educated nor explicitly studied by his teachers. He seems to be quietly exploring his own artistic path in a non-central city like Island City, and has reached heights that many people cannot reach.
When a person lives in isolation, silently exploring and practicing a value principle, it seems to have nothing to do with the current fashion, and sometimes society will only see you as a beast rather than a god. But history is like a bump mirror, and after many years, the real value begins to re-emerge, and people often realize the brilliance of this value. Mr. Zhang Peng's paintings are condensed and generalized, which can point directly to people's hearts and express their chests. Throughout his life, he was willing to be lonely and plain, and painting and life were organically combined to enter the supreme realm of traditional culture. As Zhao Puchu praised Master Hongyi: "Countless treasures are offered to the eyes of the world, and a full moon illuminates the heart of heaven." "Mr. Zhang Peng is like a bright moon rising on the sea, letting the wind blow and the waves, calmly illuminating the sea. Whatever history has given him, he will always give direction to all art navigators.
exegesis
(1) Regarding the age of Zhang Pengdang as an art teacher at primary school, there are many theories about the age of 19, 20 and 22. Born in Gaomi in 1918 and moved to Qingdao in 1935, Zhang Peng uses Du Dakai's words in this article: "I started as a primary school teacher at the age of 19. ”
(2) The verses in this quotation mark are all from Mr. Zhang Peng's inscription poems.
bibliography
Zhou Jiyin. A Series of Treatises on Chinese Painting[M].Nanjing:Jiangsu Fine Arts Publishing House,2005:83.]
Du Dakai. Sun Warm Spring Flowers Hair Comes to The Incense on Paper: Guan Fu He Tang Collection Zhang Peng Painting Exhibition[J].Fine Arts, 1998(2).
Chen Shizeng. A Study of Chinese Literati Painting[M].Hangzhou:Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House,2016.]
<h4>Zhang Peng profile</h4>
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Born in 1918, died 2009. Zi Xibai was born in Gaomi, Shandong. He is a former professor of Shandong Institute of Textile Technology and a member of the China Artists Association. Zhang Peng's art has its family roots, traditional skills and the foundation of Western painting. He is good at freehand flowers, birds, grass insects, animals, etc., and also writes about people and landscapes. His works have novel compositions, exaggerated shapes, refined pen and ink, and vivid shapes, constituting their own unique style. There are "Zhang Peng Painting Series", "Zhang Peng Painting Collection", "Zhang Peng Painting Selection" and other publications.